"Elliot Ness" - Cook County Sheriff's Office K-9

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Above and beyond their place as family companions and in traditional service occupations, dogs in Illinois serve in an ever-widening spectrum of therapeutic roles. The physical and emotional benefits to humans that come from relationships with dogs are now recognized and utilized by psychiatric facilities, assisted living centers, hospitals, schools . . . even prisons.

While serious attacks by dogs are rare, the intense media coverage that may accompany such an incident can mislead the public and/or lawmakers into imagining that dogs pose a significant threat to the community. Sensationalized publicity, combined with a lack of understanding of the infrequency of dog attacks, and of their causes, has resulted in reactive and uniformed policies directed against certain types of dogs. At least ten different towns or cities in Illinois have banned or restricted certain types of dogs in the mistaken belief that the appearance of a dog governs its behavior . . . or the behavior of its owner.

Today, dogs pose less of a threat to humans than perhaps any other time in the history of the human dog bond. Increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in reducing the number of reported dog-related injuries in Illinois and throughout the country.

Partnered with Sheriff's Police Officer Debbie Thedos, "Elliott Ness" was certified as a cadaver dog by the North American and Illinois Police Work Dog Associations after just three months of training.

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Lexi:  A  search and rescue  dog in Illinois and surrounding areas

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Paralyzed pit bull still gets around

Chicago Tribune,  October 10, 2009

By all accounts, Red is a great dog. The 7-year-old "pit bull" knows more than a dozen commands -- verbally and through hand signals. He is playful, smart, protective. And that last attribute almost got him killed.

Back in July, two gunmen attacked and robbed Red's elderly owner in his West Side garage, beat him severely and tied him up. Then they burglarized the man's home, where Red was. And they shot the dog. The attack is still under investigation, according to the Chicago Police Department.

"I guess Red was doing his job, defending his master's property, and they shot him in the back, paralyzed him," said the victim, a man in his 60s who asked that his name not be used.

Red ended up at Animal Care and Control; his owner ended up in the hospital. When he was released, he visited the recovering Red.

"I'd come in, hobbling with my swollen face and black eyes, and I'd kiss him and he'd kiss me, you know?"

Finally he had to make a choice: Take Red home or have him put down.

Because he lives on a second floor and has health issues, he couldn't carry a paralyzed 50-pound dog up and down the stairs several times a day. So he decided to let Red go.

"The girl (at Animal Care and Control) and I both cried," he said of the day he made the decision. "The staff there all got to know him and they liked him."

But then, a PAWS Chicago representative, making one of the shelter's daily runs to pull animals from the Animal Care and Control facility, was told about Red. The dog quickly won the hearts of the agency's volunteers, who donated funds to purchase a cart to help him get around. And Saturday he'll be in PAWS' adoption center at 1997 N. Clybourn Ave., ready to be adopted.

"Red is obviously a very special dog," says Rochelle Michalek, PAWS' executive director. "He has the best disposition. He's one of the best dogs you'll ever see. The bullet severed his spine, but you'd never know it. He's happy, he loves to play. He's a big snuggler."

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Historic photo:  President Abraham Lincoln's dog - Fido

National Canine Research Council

What is a dog bite?

While the question seems simple enough, the answer is often not what we imagine.

Dog bite numbers offer little useful information about canine behavior. Dog bite numbers are simply a tally of the number of people who sought medical treatment and/or reported a break in skin after exposure to a dog's nail or tooth, – or in other words, the number of people injured interacting with a dog; (which may or may not have involved aggression).

If dog bite numbers offer little useful information about canine aggression, then what can Illinois dog bite numbers really tell us about canine / human interaction?

Dog bite numbers reveal that there is no "dog bite epidemic" in Illinois All evidence indicates that dog-related injuries in the state have steadily decreased over the past 3 decades.

Increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been successful in drastically lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.

Despite significant increases in the human and dog population, dog bite numbers show a steady and significant decrease in dog-related injuries in areas of Illinois with dog bite data from the 1970s:

Source: Chicago Animal Care & Control

dog_bites_chicago_1979_19821

National Canine Research Council

Over the past 45 years (1965 - present) there have been 28 dog bite-related fatalities in Illinois, or an average of one (1) fatality every 1 to 2 years.

NCRC's 2010 Preliminary Report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities illustrates the challenge of accurately reporting on these extremely rare, tragic events. Our mission of preserving the human-canine bond obligates us to be as accurate about these emotionally charge incidents as we can, so that they are calmly, correctly and, therefore, usefully understood. Accuracy takes time.

At least 16 different breeds/types of dogs have been reported to be involved in these incidents.*

The victims were 6 adults, 2 teenagers, 20 children.

One third of the children (n=7) were killed after a parent left them unattended at a relative's home (grandparent, uncle/aunt) or at an acquaintance's home.

In 1990, a 6-month-old girl was left alone on the couch of a home her mother was visiting. A young male resident of the home owned a very aggressive intact male dog that he kept on the porch. The dog entered into the house and attacked the unsupervised infant. (Morgan Park)

In 1994, an elderly Chicago woman was the victim of a relative's dogs. A 75-year-old Alzheimer's sufferer was attacked and killed after she wandered into the backyard where her daughter and son-in-law kept two large guard dogs.

In 2005, a 14-year-old girl left her home on a cold winter night. She had not gone one block before loose neighborhood dogs attacked her. Although the official cause of death was listed as hypothermia, dog bites were listed as a contributing factor. This unfortunate girl is classified as a dog bite-related fatality since, had she not been attacked by dogs, it is very unlikely she would have otherwise died from hypothermia. (Erie)

In 2009, a Johnston City boy was attacked and killed by three dogs after he climbed out of a bedroom window and entered into the yard where the dogs were kept. The Williamson County Sheriff's Department's investigation into the death of 3-year-old Gabrial Mandrell-Sauerhage found no fault with the adults in the house at the time the child was mauled by family dogs.

The Sheriff said the investigation could not determine which dog started the incident or which dog first bit the child, but apparently more than one dog was involved in the incident.

In 2009, Rosie L. Humphreys was walking her two small dogs when a neighbor's loose dog attacked one of her small dogs and then knocked her to the ground and mauled her. One of Humphreys' dogs also died in the attack. An autopsy revealed Humphreys bled to death.

Officials with the Flora Police Department said that a metal "D" ring that attached the dog's leather collar to a log chain apparently failed, allowing the dog to escape a short time before the attack. No charges were filed against the dog owner.

For information on these cases and other dog bite-related fatalities that occurred in 2009, please see 2009 NCRC Final Report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities.

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*Note: In recent years, scientists have established that visual identification of dogs of unknown origin is extremely unreliable; therefore, while we can be sure these listed incidents involved varied types of dogs, we cannot be certain of the accuracy of most breed identifications.

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In spite of the negligent, reckless and dangerous practices of some, dogs still pose an incredibly low risk for causing a fatality in Illinois:

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

In 2007, seventy-four (74) Illinois children died as result of maltreatment (abuse / neglect).

In a single year, 2007, more than three times as many Illinois children died from maltreatment than the total of all children killed by dogs in the state over the past 45 years.

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Fact is, people in Illinois routinely accept far greater risks from ATVs, bicycles and swimming pools than any that are associated with companion animals.

National Canine Research Council